What got you into wanting to create a message forum in the first place?
I'd love to see your stories!
I'd love to see your stories!
What started your forum creation journey?
- Thread starter Shawn Gossman
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Deleted member 49125
I’ve always been Team Forum. Social Media has a different, colder vibe it emits. Forums are great for discussing ideas & forming friendships. I created my forum because I believe in being eco-friendly & holistic living. I wanted to learn & grow with others.
The friendships that are made on forums are so much different than you would get on Social Media. Plus there's just something about having your own forum where you can make your own rules & customize it to how you like it.
The friendships that are made on forums are so much different than you would get on Social Media. Plus there's just something about having your own forum where you can make your own rules & customize it to how you like it.
leangreen76
Up-and-Coming Sensation
I first got online sometime in 2001 I think and was searching for some online Transformers comics as I gave all my childhood ones up and then into adulted just dreamed of reading the comics again one day. Or finding them second hand in real life. That lead me to a Transformers fan-site (The first I found) and I spend so much time going there I just eventually joined the message board so I could tlk to others who had a similar love for the franchise growing up in the 1980s+
Eventually whilst there I got the idea to create a sc-fi message board as it was a huge interest of mine at the time, so looked for a free host.
Eventually whilst there I got the idea to create a sc-fi message board as it was a huge interest of mine at the time, so looked for a free host.
I tried many forum niche - tech, scifi, movies, anime etc. I was naive, maybe I am still naive to think that I could build a good community. Now a days I don't have time. And when I had time, I lacked resources, time and also process. I don't think I'll succeed with forums. I think I'd be able to do good with the blogs instead.
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Deleted member 17779
I created my blog and forum (which are both literature based) because I am an avid reader and I don't have anyone else to discuss reading/literature with here where I'm at. I started the blog first a little over 3 years ago. Then I thought I'd create a forum to go along with that blog so that other people who are avid readers as well could meet and have discussions about all things literature based.
KnownSyntax
Resident
My first forum was ironically for a gaming clan that I was supporting, so that is what got me into the journey/realm. Sadly, that clan and forum closed a long time ago, so I've obviously shifted my focus onto a community and website that aligns with my hobby (and only has a few big players, with many of them being inactive or completely locked out for any new users for whatever reason).
I first got into forums between 2001-2004 because I was learning HTML. For many years I was not involved with them but recently, as I have begin to teach myself PHP and Python, I picked them back up and now I have 4 forums I run/own. 🙂
I first came into forums when I was into gaming more. Means when I was into modifications for GTAIV I join a lot of Forums, I mean back then there are so many forums/websites. While joining or posting away, I was studying in I.C.T Xd
Anyway one day I was like, flip it, I do my own
Anyway one day I was like, flip it, I do my own
I first discovered forums when I was 16 years old, I came across Glitch City Labs, a site dedicated to documenting the numerous glitches found in the Pokemon games. Ever since I have been a fan of forums and I like how their structured. In 2010 I wanted to start my own community, but since I was new to owning a forum I didn't really know what I was doing. :V I guess I'm still learning to this day though, recently I've been watching various gaming challenges on Youtube and wanted to make a traditional forum community based around this niche, rather than a Discord server.
I was a member of a forum running a very early version of vBulletin. When the platform became licensed the owner chose to use a pirated version and the site was taken down. I bought a license, took ownership of the database and got the site back online.
fantanoice
Madly Diligent
It was 2003 and I wanted to talk to people about Nintendo / videogames.
How that go for you
fantanoice
Madly Diligent
11yrs of good times before stepping aside and pursuing other stuff
I played an online game back in elementary school called Dinky bomb which had a vBulletin forum attached to it. I loved the forum as much as the game itself, but it was all brought to an end when Atari bought the company out and effectively killed it. A few members joined up and restarted the forum but it was pretty short lived without access to the game. From seeing that I learned it was possible to create my own sites and I've never stopped since.
I used to be an avid baseball card collector. Every Christmas or birthday, my parents would be getting me baseball cards. Every time I got my hands on a bit of money, I’d be getting my dad to take me to Walmart to buy a $20 blaster box of cards.
I’d say Upper Deck was the biggest producer of cards at that point in time, and they were aggressively promoting a website called UpperDeckKids. This website allowed you to enter the codes on the back of cards and redeem them for prizes. Eventually, they launched a forum on the site as well, and so many kids were using it just to share codes. Every card in a set had a different code (there might be 500 cards in a particular set), but every individual card did not have a unique code.
Basically, that 2008 Ryan Braun card that I pulled had the same code on it as a 2008 Ryan Braun card being pulled by someone else on the other side of country. Thus, code sharing became rampant. You didn’t have to collect every single card and get the codes, you could just copy and paste the codes from the forum.
Eventually, Upper Deck got wind of what all of the kids were doing, and they starting moderating the forum. Code sharing was no more. So many of us opted to start our own forum to be able to freely share codes and avoid the moderation going on over at UDK. I’m not sure why we chose ProBoards, but that’s where nearly everyone headed. There were literally hundreds of ProBoards forums just being used to copy and paste lists of codes.
That’s what started it all, I suppose. Upper Deck eventually ended their rewards program, but I owe them for the success we had with my first sports forum. The vast majority of my active users were people I had developed friendships with back on UpperDeckKids.
I arrived at FP in 2010 looking to promote that sports forum as we looked to expand beyond our small group of friends from UDK. I decided to close that sports forum as all of us kids grew up. I’ve stuck around on FP and been involved with a number of other projects since then.
I’d say Upper Deck was the biggest producer of cards at that point in time, and they were aggressively promoting a website called UpperDeckKids. This website allowed you to enter the codes on the back of cards and redeem them for prizes. Eventually, they launched a forum on the site as well, and so many kids were using it just to share codes. Every card in a set had a different code (there might be 500 cards in a particular set), but every individual card did not have a unique code.
Basically, that 2008 Ryan Braun card that I pulled had the same code on it as a 2008 Ryan Braun card being pulled by someone else on the other side of country. Thus, code sharing became rampant. You didn’t have to collect every single card and get the codes, you could just copy and paste the codes from the forum.
Eventually, Upper Deck got wind of what all of the kids were doing, and they starting moderating the forum. Code sharing was no more. So many of us opted to start our own forum to be able to freely share codes and avoid the moderation going on over at UDK. I’m not sure why we chose ProBoards, but that’s where nearly everyone headed. There were literally hundreds of ProBoards forums just being used to copy and paste lists of codes.
That’s what started it all, I suppose. Upper Deck eventually ended their rewards program, but I owe them for the success we had with my first sports forum. The vast majority of my active users were people I had developed friendships with back on UpperDeckKids.
I arrived at FP in 2010 looking to promote that sports forum as we looked to expand beyond our small group of friends from UDK. I decided to close that sports forum as all of us kids grew up. I’ve stuck around on FP and been involved with a number of other projects since then.
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